In the Second of the Lockdown Series of articles by members we discover Annee Kelly’s re-evaluation of what she loves about art making:

Meeting with the Government restrictions during the Covic19 Lockdown and staying at home, has enabled me to pursue my love of painting, particularly Watercolour, in a more intensive way and endeavour to further myself in my artistic journey. The lockdown has encouraged me to re-evaluate what I love in my art making process, experiment and “play”.
I am at the moment painting large watercolours on stretched canvas instead of the usual cotton paper.

I have tried to condense below some of my activities during that time.

As a result of viewing my work at my March exhibition held at the Eagles Nest Gallery, in Aireys Inlet, ( which incidentally had to be cut short following the lockdown), I was contacted by an interested party, wishing to commission me to paint for them a large Acrylic on stretched canvas ( 124 cm x 155 cm). This provided me with a challenging and rewarding project during the start of the isolation period. I was pleased when the clients indicated they were delighted with the result and arranged for the collection of the art work by courier. (Image 1)

Image 2 is an example of work painted en plein air, which didn’t require for me to go too far, as it is of my own patio. I subsequently painted a few more paintings of my front and back garden.

Image 3 is an example of fallen autumn leaves, collected during my daily walks, a subject I usually wouldn’t paint. I continued on that theme by painting gum nuts, native flowers and acorns, in addition to magnificent specimens of trees found on the nature strips in Beaumaris and the nearby Banksia Reserve.

Image 4 is a little different to what I usually do, as I am predominantly a landscape, seascape and urban painter, and I rarely paint birds.The invitation which was extended to local artists, to depict some aspects of our native flora and fauna found within the Ricketts Point Sanctuary, with the aim to illustrate a nature journal, prompted me to paint this image in a somewhat more creative way.

Image 5 is a fun little painting, a subject which again, I would not normally paint, but it appealed to me, as it is clearly a symbol of a neighbourly message of hope and solidarity during these unprecedented times and could be of historical significance in the years to come.

The lockdown also gave me the opportunity to paint countless works based on sketches from different locations visited in the pre- lockdown period, something I have been wanting to do for a long time, but couldn’t find the time. Image 6 is one of these examples.

I addition to these personal endeavours, I kept weekly contacts via emails, with my students (and will continue to do so until such time as we resume classes again, in mid July), in order to inspire and mentor them.

Lastly, I joined a volunteer group, the Greens Bush to Arthur Seat Project, to assist in the planting of three thousand native trees. A small contribution to our environment which will benefit both us and more importantly, future generations.

I still have a few more pending projects, namely the writing of additional articles for the Australian Artist Magazine and perhaps organising my travel diaries with the idea of publishing some of them, but that is another story.

With my best wishes
Stay well and keep safe
Annee ( Kelly)